GRE Power Vocab - C

Question 1

Cacophony

Answer 1

n. harsh, jarring, discordant sound, dissonance

for a related word dissonance

Question 2

Cadge

Answer 2

v. to sponge, beg, or mooch

Question 3

Cajole

Answer 3

v. to inveigle, coax, wheedle, sweet talk

Question 4

Calumniate

Answer 4

v. to slander, make a false accusation

Calumny means slander, aspersion

Question 5

Canny

Answer 5

adj. careful, cautious, knowing

Question 6

Canon

Answer 6

n. an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature

Canonical means following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards

Question 7

Capricious

Answer 7

adj. inclined to change one’s mind impulsively; erractic; unpredictable

having caprices (suddent changes of mind or actions) makes you capricious, which then means that you can be described as tending toward capriciousness

Question 8

Cardinal

Answer 8

adj. of basic importance or consequence; primary

Question 9

Carnality

Answer 9

n. something relating to the body or flesh

Carnal desires are those that relate to bodily or sexual appetite

It may seem a little odd, but the word carnage is related - it means physical remains

Question 10

Castigation

Answer 10

n. severe criticism or punishment

Question 11

Catalyst

Answer 11

n. a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change

To catalyze is to act as a catalyst, to bring about

Question 12

Causality

Answer 12

n. the relationship between cause and effect

Question 13

Caustic

Answer 13

adj. burning or stinging; causing corrosion

Question 14

Censure

Answer 14

v. to criticize severely; to officially rebuke

n. a judgment involving condemnation; the act of blaming or condemning

Censorious is an adjective that means tending to or expressing censure

Question 15

Chaos

Answer 15

n. a condition of confusion or unpredictability

Chaotic is an adjective that describes a state of chaos

Originally, the Greek word for chaos meant space, or emptiness (think chasm), but now it has more to do with disorder

Question 16

Chary

Answer 16

adj. wary; cautious; sparing

Question 16

Chasten

Answer 16

v. to chastise or correct; subdue

Chastened as an adjective means corrected, punished, or humbled

Question 17

Chauvinist

Answer 17

n. one blindly devoted to a group of which one is a member

a male chauvinist believes in the inferiority of women to men. This term is often followed by the word pig

Question 18

Chic

Answer 18

adj. stylish and fashionable; sophistication in dress

Question 19

Chicanery

Answer 19

n. trickery or subterfuge

Question 20

Chimera

Answer 20

n. an illusion

Chimera was a fire-breathing monster in Greek mythology; body was an amalgam of different animals and seeing one was a bad omen. These negative connotations do not remain

Chimerical means illusory or improbable

Question 21

Choleric

Answer 21

adj. tending toward anger

Question 22

Churlish

Answer 22

adj. boorish, vulgar, loutish; difficult and intractable

a churl is someone who is churlish

Question 23

Circumscribe

Answer 23

v. to enclose within bounds; limit or confine, especially narrowly

Question 24

Clangorous

Answer 24

adj. making a loud, resonant sound

Question 25

Coalesce

Answer 25

v. to come together; to fuse or unite

Question 26

Coda

Answer 26

n. concluding section to a musical or literary piece, something that concludes or completes

Question 27

Cogent

Answer 27

adj. appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing

Question 28

Color

Answer 28

v. to cahnge as if by dyeing, influence, distort, or gloss over this definition is often tested on the GRE

Question 29

Commensurate

Answer 29

adj. matching, corresponding, or proportionate in degree, size, amount, or other property

Question 30

Complaisance

Answer 30

n. the willingness to comply with the wishes of others Complaisant means showing a willingness to please don't be confused with complacent, which means self-satisfied

Question 31

Confound

Answer 31

v. to cause to be confused; to frustrate con- (com-) often means joining or bringing things together. Confound means to mix together or confuse things. To be confused is to be confounded

Question 32

Connoisseur

Answer 32

n. an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert

Question 33

Consequential

Answer 33

adj. pompous, self-important the primary definition is logically following; important

Question 34

Contemn

Answer 34

v. to scorn or despise don't confuse with condemn which seems very similar but means to pronounce judgement against

Question 35

Contentious

Answer 35

adj. argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement

Question 36

Contiguous

Answer 36

adj. sharing a border; touching; adjacent

Question 37

Contrite

Answer 37

adj. regretful; penitent; seeking foregiveness Contrition is regret or remorse

Question 38

Convention

Answer 38

n. a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude

Question 39

Convoluted

Answer 39

adj. complex or complicated

Question 40

Corrigible

Answer 40

adj. capable of being set right, correctable, reparable Corrigibility, a noun, is the capacity to be set right the opposite of corrigible is incorrigible, meaning not reformable, uncontrolable, recalcitrant

Question 41

Countenance

Answer 41

v. to approve of or tolerate Countenance can also be a noun, in which case it means mein, face, composure

Question 42

Cozen

Answer 42

v. to deceive, beguile, hoodwink for related word, see guile

Question 43

Craven

Answer 43

adj. contemptibly fainthearted, pusillanimous, lacking any courage

Question 44

Credulous

Answer 44

adj. tending to believe too readily; gullible

Question 45

Crescendo

Answer 45

n. a gradual increase in intensity, particularly in music usually, cresendo is used to describe music or sound, but it can be used in more figurative ways as well

Question 46

Culpable

Answer 46

adj. deserving blame Culpability is blameworthiness for a related word, see exculpate

Question 47

Cynicism

Answer 47

n. an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness Some who displays cynicism is called a cynic